Hudak brings Tory message to Durham

PCs would cut spending, balance budget

Tim Hudak

Ron Pietroniro / Metroland

OSHAWA -- Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak was the guest speaker at the Oshawa Chamber of Commerce meeting at the Best Western Hotel on October 26. Mr. Hudak was at the luncheon to discuss party ideas and strategies to create jobs. October 26, 2012.

Tim Hudak

Ron Pietroniro / Metroland

OSHAWA -- Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak was the guest speaker at the Oshawa Chamber of Commerce meeting at the Best Western Hotel on October 26. Mr. Hudak was at the luncheon to discuss party ideas and strategies to create jobs. October 26, 2012.

DURHAM -- The Province's finances are a "mess" and the Ontario legislature should be in session, trying to find solutions, Tim Hudak says.

The Progressive Conservative leader was in Durham Region Friday, speaking with commuters in Ajax and addressing a luncheon meeting of the Greater Oshawa Chamber of Commerce.

"It's time for straight talk in Ontario. We're in a mess, we're losing jobs. Financially, we're in a hole," he said.

He said the legislature should be sitting. "We want to get back to work and roll up our sleeves."

In an interview, he noted Premier Dalton McGuinty shouldn't have prorogued the legislature when he resigned.

"McGuinty resigned and closed the place down. That's wrong. We're on auto-pilot," he said.

Speaking to about 50 members of the chamber at the Best Western Motel, Mr. Hudak joked about the legislature being prorogued, saying, "Now that we're into an interesting time, I'm planning to spend the whole afternoon with you because I have nothing else to do."

Jobs and the economy are central to the party's platform, he noted.

"We need change to get the economy back on track," Mr. Hudak said, adding balancing the provincial budget is key.

"You can't run your business on a credit card. You can't run your home on a credit card. We can't run our province on a credit card."

Cutting spending, balancing the books and paying down debt are keys to the party's plan, he said.

"I believe tax cuts create jobs," he said.

People with more money in their pockets will spend it, he added, noting, "We'll cut business taxes so you can buy that new piece of equipment."

Slaying the deficit should be done much sooner, he advocated, saying the current plan of eliminating it by 2017-18 is "unacceptable. It's too long. Ontario should be first. If we're not first, we should be close to first" in eliminating its deficit. "We'll be last."

Getting the finances in order is "a signal Ontario is open to investors.

"For the first time, Ontario is a have-not province," he said, noting it's been receiving equalization payments from previous have-not provinces such as Newfoundland and Saskatchewan.

"We know our best days are ahead," he said, noting Ontario has enthusiastic entrepreneurs, plentiful natural resources, and a "peaceful, stable" society.